In the Midst of It All
by Yet-Another-Weasley
Summary: Something happens when Grissom returns from an entomology seminary that will change how he sees and feels about someone. Last chapter is up!
1. Chapter 1

In the Midst of It All

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, nor do I make any profit from writing this story.

Chapter one: Crime Scene

They had been out there in the sweltering heat for so long. Both teams were taking on the scene in shifts. Currently, Warrick and Nick, along with Sophia were collecting evidence from around the body.

"Man, if there's one this I can't stand about Vegas, its gotta be the heat. An hour out here in the sun and I'm already sweaty and sticky. 113 degrees is just too much." He wiped some of the glistening sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Sofia nodded, and then said, "Even though you may not be comfortable, these conditions are slowing down our DB's decomposition rate. This heat has kept some of the larger animals away from here and away from our body. Thanks to the weather, the body will be in better condition for Al back at the morgue."

"Al?" Nick asked.

"Okay, Doctor Robbins."

"Better," he replied.

Warrick moved around the body carefully. Every so often he would snap a photo before collecting crucial evidence off of the body.

"Hey, Nick, hand me on of the smaller evidence bags. I'm gunna scrape under our Vic's fingernails."

He scraped under the victim's fingernails and the scraping fell into the evidence bag.

"Looks like small pieces of glass or sand." He looked around them to see if he noticed anything it may have come from. "I don't see anything around here that looks like it. I'll have to see what comes up when I get it back from the lab." He continued to collect the evidence from around the body.

David came over and asked Sophia if they had taken the photos and were finished with the body so he could get it back to the morgue for the autopsy.

"Thanks," he said and a few other people came over and helped get the body onto a stretched and into the back of the white van.

"I guess we can go put this stuff over with our other stuff," Nick said, "Plus, I need some water."

The three of them picked up the evidence bags and walked over towards Catherine and Sara.

"What've you guys got?" Catherine asked, spotting the three of them coming towards them.

"Just finished with the evidence on and around the victim. I have some stuff to take back to the lab if you want me to drop off anything at the lab."

Sara responded, "Well, I've actually got to head over there." She checked her watch, "You know that entomology ( thanks go out to bullet girl who noticed my typo there D) seminar that Grissom was at up in Oregon, we'll I'm supposed to pick him up at the airport in a little over an hour. Then we both have that court trial for that other case I just wrapped up. I have to pick up some stuff from the lab before I do that, so I could drop this stuff off first." She grabbed her field kit and started getting her stuff together to leave.

"Well, I'd drop it off if you want me to. I don't want to make you late." Warrick said, grabbing some of Sara's things and helping her carry it to the trunk of her car.

"I'm fine. What, are you trying to get off of this? I heard one of you three complaining about the heat a little while ago." She said.

He chuckled, "That was Nick." And then he added a bit louder so Nick would hear, "Isn't he such a wimp?" He turned around to see Nick give him a slight glare before turning back to see what Catherine was showing him and Sofia.

"Alright," he said as Sara was about to get in her car, "Hey, you still coming with Cath, Nicky, Greg, Grissom, and I for brunch tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, well, if this trial doesn't last an eternity. If it does then I might stay home and sleep. I can't really remember what it's like to sleep anymore." She laughed, "I haven't slept in a while; maybe if I get to the airport early I can stay out in the car for half an hour and catch up on that."

He looked over at Nick, Catherine, and Sofia, "I guess I'd better let you go then. Tell Griss I said, 'Hey.'"

She nodded and got in the driver's seat of her Denali. Turning on the radio, she buckled in and pulled out to the street and headed back to the lab.

Well, that's the end of this chapter.

I need to think about this story now. Originally, well, about a week ago, I knew what I wanted to write this about, but could only get down the first few paragraphs. Over the course of last week I forgot where I was headed with this, so now it's changed from whatever I originally had planned. Plus, I'm finishing up my other story right now, so I was trying not to work on this and work on that. ;D

Well, tell me what you think so far… I know you really can't tell where it's going yet, but you'll find out in the next one or two chapters. Hehe... please review!

Ah, sorry about that typo. Haha I type to fast and mix up words sometimes lol. Thanks for reviewing!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, never have. P

In the Midst of it All: Chapter 2

She got back to the lab in a little over half an hour. Traffic had been pretty backed up on the strip and for a while she was about to just get out of her car and walk the rest of the way to the lab. However, the scorching temperatures kept her inside the car with the air conditioner on high. She breathed in the cool air one last time before turning off the car and hurrying up inside.

Spotting Greg, she nearly threw the evidence bags at him, "Can you drop all of this off with Mia? And you can get Bobby over at Bullistics to take a look at this."

"Sure," he responded, a bit bewildered, "And you can't because?"

"Because I've got to be somewhere in an hour."

"Well, have fun then," he said grumpily.

"Sorry, Greg, I don't mean to force this all on you. Wait, where were you earlier?"

"Doctor's appointment; today was the only day they had open."

"Are you sick?' she backed away, jokingly, "Or was it just a check-up?"

"Not sick; I just get migraines. They're putting me on some medication, though."

"Oh, sorry," she replied. "I guess I'd better go now."

"See ya later. Good luck in court."

"Thanks," she said and hurried off to the locker room to quickly shower and change before heading over to pick up Grissom.

Forty Minutes later she was sitting in one of the uncomfortable airport seats, waiting for Grissom's flight to arrive. After only ten minutes, she was growing bored and weary. She stood up and bought a cup of coffee to try and keep herself awake and she paced back and forth by the window. Eventually, she sat back down and fell asleep, her head resting on her hand.

She jumped when he tapped her on the shoulder and called her name.

"Sorry," he apologized.

She grabbed her now cold, coffee and took a sip before responding, "You ready to go?"

He nodded, "So, anything interesting go on while I've been gone?"

"Well, we're working on a pretty big case right now. Four bodies out in the middle of nowhere. Cathrine, Nick, and Warrick are working on it as well."

"Well, I guess I'll get started on that tomorrow. Don't we have a trial to be at?"

"Yeah, we've got a little over an hour, though. Everything for the case is in either the back seat or trunk of my car."

"Would you like to stop somewhere before the trial? We could go over everything for the case," Grissom suggested.

"Sure, sounds good."

Ten minutes later, they found themselves sitting in a small diner about a block off the strip. There weren't many people eating there, save for a few people who were probably regulars. Business was probably slow because the tourists don't usually eat at small diners like this one.

"So, how have you been doing since I've been away at the seminar?" he asked.

"Okay," she said.

"You sure?" he pressed, knowing that for the past few months, she'd been going through a lot. But then again, he didn't find it odd that she didn't want to tell him how she really was; she was always very introverted.

She nodded and changed the subject, "How was the seminar?"

"Well, I gave two lectures; one on the second day and one on the fifth. For the rest of the time I sat in for some of the other lectures, but most of the stuff I knew already. You would have benefited from it, though."

"What are you saying," she inquired. "That I'm not as smart as you?"

"Not at all; I was just saying that you would have found it interesting. I know you seemed like you were interesting in that butterfly book I gave you a while ago." He blushed a little.

"Yeah," she said, smiling "Let me go get something out of my car."

She headed out to the parking lot and opened the trunk of her car. Rummaging through, she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the folder and was about to shut the trunk when she got the strange feeling that someone was watching her. She didn't turn around, but looked out of the corner of her eye, but saw nothing. Yet someone was there, breathing down her neck. She turned around the other way, but never got a chance to find out who was behind her.

He watched her walk outside, but her car was parked around the other side of the building and out of his view. Now he simply sat and waited, but after ten minutes passed, he was getting worried.

"Have you seen the woman I was sitting with? Maybe she went in the restroom?" he asked a waitress who walked by.

"Sorry, sir. I just saw her go out to a car in the parking lot; didn't really notice if she came back in. I could check the ladies room if you'd like," she replied.

"Yes, thanks."

The woman came back after a few moments and shook her head in a reply of "no."

He dialed her cell phone number and was a bit surprised to hear it ringing close by. He turned around, hoping he had been over reacting and she was just coming in from outside, but all he saw was her cell phone, sitting on the table right beside him. He frowned; a few more minutes and she still hadn't come back in. He left a sufficient amount of money on the table and headed out to the car.

The trunk was still opened, but Sara didn't respond when he called her name. Nobody was there, but he did notice something scary. He saw a trail of blood drops leading away from the car. He followed them out to the curb; where they stopped. There was no blood in the street, but he saw a fresh pair of tire tracks leading away from the parking lot.

**A/N **

**The next chapter should be up soon, I've been writing in one of my notebooks during school whenever I'm in Study hall or Lunch, so I have more time to write than before. Thanks for reviews, as always, I love reading them so much. D**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of its characters.

Chapter 3

He dialed another number on his cell phone, Jim Brass.

"Brass," the man said, answering the call.

"I need help out here, Jim…"

"What happened?" Brass cut him off.

"Sara's missing and there's blood by her car's open trunk. Get some CSI's out here."

"Of course. Stay there, I'll be right over." He hung up the phone and dialed Catherine.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Yeah, Cath? It's Brass. I need two of you to head over to the West 9th Street Diner. We've got a fresh crime scene. Gil's over there now."

"I thought he had a trial to be at."

"He does, but I don't think he'll be going."

"Why? What happened? You aren't telling me something, Jim…"

"Well, either I can give you the bad news, or Grissom can…"

"Just tell me. What's going on?" She demanded.

"Okay. Sara's disappeared. There's blood and tire tracks, but Grissom isn't sure what happened. I don't even know what happened exactly. He just said to send over someone. I'm contacting the PD and then heading over there. I think you should go over there and make sure he's okay."

"Oh my god. Yeah, sure. I'll get Greg and Warrick and we'll be over there as soon as we can."

"Alright, see you soon, then." He said, sighing and hanging up the phone.

Grissom was back in the diner, watching the parking lot he'd roped off with a sheet he'd gotten from the owner of the diner. It didn't look very professional, but it worked. He needed some way to keep people from walking all over the evidence. Now he was sipping on a cup of coffee and talking to the owner and other workers.

One of the waitresses was talking to him now. "About ten minutes ago I heard tired screeching, but that's not really uncommon around here. There's a vacant lot down the street where older kids like to hang out. I didn't hear any scream though, just the tires."

"Thanks," Grissom replied; the waitress nodded and got up to bring out drinks to a table across the room.

Now he just sat there, his head in his hands; his head was killing him. Deep in thought, he didn't even notice Catherine sit down beside him.

"We'll find her," she said.

"I can't work this case," he said, "And you can't either."

"No, you're going home to rest and I'm working this case with Warrick and Greg." I'm not putting this in anybody else's hands. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and just wait and see what happens. Me and Sara aren't on the best of terms right now. We both apologized for our argument, but things aren't the same. I don't think I'd be able to live knowing she probably hates me."

He sighed; he knew there was nothing he could say to keep her from working the case.

"Come on, Brass is here, along with Greg and Warrick. I'll get one of them to take you home."

They went outside and Grissom explained to everyone what was going on.

"Don't worry, we'll find her," Warrick tried to assure Grissom before they got to work.

He knew he shouldn't get involved with this; none of them should, but he had to. Catherine was right, there was no way that they could just sit back and do nothing. Instead of going home, he went over to talk to Brass again.

"I have to be at court, Jim," he explained.

"Woah, you're telling me that you'd rather go to court than stay here and try to figure out what happened to Sara?"

"No, but it's my job to be there to present the evidence."

"Look, let me go over there and explain that you can't be there. You help out here. I know you care about her, Gil. You've hurt her more times than you know, don't you think she would care if she knew you didn't even help try and find her?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'll talk to the judge and get them to post-pone the hearing until further notice. You get to work here."

"Thank-you."

Grissom changed out of his regular clothes and pulled on some latex gloves to start collecting evidence.

"I'll take care of the blood and tire tracks, Warrick and Greg- you go and talk to anyone who works here or is eating here, see if they can tell us anything we don't know. Cath, you see if there's anything in or on Sara's car."

He took a camera and went out to the street. He snapped a few pictures of the black tire tracks and then bent down to examine them. They were narrow and dark, probably belonging to a smaller vehicle. He followed them, walking along the side walk. It was then that he noticed a slight curve in the tracks and a scrape of metallic blue paint on the cement curb. He snapped a picture and then carefully scraped the evidence into the bag.

In his mind, he pictured a blue car; it was more likely that a car had hit the curb than a truck because of the wheel size and lowness of the paint scrape. He watched the car creep up and then a person shove Sara into the back seat. The person gets into the drivers seat and begins to drive away. Sara, a fighter, tries to get up and escape. She distracts her attacker, causing him or her to take their hand off the wheel and leading to the car hitting the curb and leaving behind the blue paint.

He stood up again and moved over to the blood. Carefully, he swabbed the drops of blood and decided to go drop the evidence off with Mia. He figured he should see if Ecklie had heard about his return and Sara's disappearance.

Lucky for Grissom, Ecklie was at trace, speaking with Mia and Hodges.

"I know something was bound to happen. We're in the middle of one of the biggest cases of the year and Grissom's CSI goes A-wall?" Ecklie said to Hodges, "Stokes located another body, a bit further out from the others. When we need all hands on deck, something like this has to happen. This can't make the lab look very good."

Grissom walked up to him, "I'm glad to hear how much you care about your colleague."

"Gil?" Ecklie said, turning around, a bit surprised that Grissom had heard what he'd just said.

"Yes, I'm back from the seminar and have already begun working on this case."

"Woah, wait. You have to be at court," Ecklie stated.

"Jim's down there, explaining the situation. Don't worry, Judge Patterson will understand; we're close acquaintances."

"Gil, if you screw up…."

"I'm aware of the consequences if things don't get done right, but my CSI's are top priority." He said and then turned to Mia. "I have a blood sample from the crime scene. I need you to tell me if the DNA is a match to Sara's."

Well, I'll end this chapter here. Thanks to everyone for their lovely reviews. I really appreciated it! D Pleas keep on reading. Next chapter should be up soon, well not too soon. Maybe a week. Well, hope everyone had a Happy Easter… or Spring Break…or just a happy Spring, which ever applies to you! )


	4. Chapter 4

See the earlier chapters for the disclaimer.

Chapter 4

While Mia processed the evidence, Grissom grabbed a coffee and sat down in the break room. He needed some time to think things through. He tried to put everything together, but what he came up with was that he didn't have enough information.

After a while, he had just finished his second cup of coffee. Mia hadn't paged him yet and still he was trying to figure out why someone attacked and kidnapped Sara. He hadn't seen her for a week and before that, things weren't going so well between the two of them. It started with that one case about a year back. The victim looked just like Sara and it was then that Grissom told himself that he couldn't ever be with her. Then there was Sara's DUI. He didn't care that she had a problem, he was just glad she was okay. Then the team split and Sara blew up at Ecklie. Things just went from bad to worse. Everyday, he was becoming more and more afraid that she was going to leave, just like she almost did not long after she came to Vegas.

Luckily, though, Grissom's cell phone interrupted Grissom's thoughts.

"Grissom," he responded.

"It's Brass. I just got finished talking to Judge Patterson and the defendant's lawyer. The trial has been set back. The date isn't determined yet."

"Good, uh, hold on for a second."

"Will do."

Mia was not standing in the doorway.

"Grissom? I have your results. The DNA comparison was a match. As for your blue paint, the name is 'Metallic Water.' You're lucky; this color was only made for the Chrysler Cirus. They stopped making them a few years back." (A/N The whole 'Metallic Water' paint color was solely made up by me. And as for the Chrysler Cirus not being made anymore, that's true… least… I'm pretty sure. Just wanted to let you know D )

"Thank you."

"Good Luck. I didn't really know Sara, but based on what Greg told me, she meant a lot to you."

He nodded his thanks as she turned around and went back to trace.

Now Grissom was back on the phone with Brass, "Jim? Be on the lookout for a blue Chrysler Cirus. Meanwhile, I'm heading back over to the scene to see if anything else comes up."

"I'll call you if I find anything," Brass replied.

"Yeah, same here." Grissom hung up the phone.

He took the papers and went out to the parking lot, remembering that he'd taken Catherine's Tahoe here from the Diner he had been at earlier. He'd been here over an hour, waiting for Mia to process the evidence; Catherine was probably wondering why he'd never returned.

As he suspected, he pulled up to the curb and Catherine stood there, giving him a quizzical look.

"I let you take my car and you're gone for two hours? I hope you've got some news…" She said, walking towards him as he got out of the vehicle.

"Actually, I do. The blood… DNA matches Sara's. The paint… 'Metallic Water' and only made for the Chrysler Cirus. The trial is temporarily canceled, so I'm off the hook."

"Good, now I should catch you up on what _we've_ got," She replied. "Well, first of all, those pictures you took with my camera? I sent them over to the lab. Nicky stopped over to pick up some things while you had the Tahoe. He's having someone put them through the database. That should confirm your evidence that the car is a Chrysler Cirus."

"Okay. Good."

"Nicky's having Sara's picture put on the hotline. Maybe someone, other than who was here, saw her being attacked or somewhere else in town after she disappeared."

Grissom nodded, "One of the waitresses told me that there's a vacant lot down the street a few blocks. Kids race down there; explaining why she didn't bother to look outside when she heard the screeching tires. I'll head over there and check it out; maybe one of them saw something and could give us a hint as to what went on here."

"Sounds like a plan," Catherine said. "Nicky told me that while he's waiting for Mia to process the evidence from their case and with Doc Robbins for the autopsy, he'd call if anything comes up. I'll let you know if he calls."

"Thanks," He replied and she turned to head back over to Warrick and Greg. "Oh, wait, uh, do I have to walk over there or will you let me borrow the Tahoe again?"

She shrugged, "I guess you can take it, but if I have to call a taxi to go home tonight to check up on Lindsey, you aren't getting a Christmas present next year."

"Don't worry, I'll have it back to you soon," He said, turning around and getting back in the vehicle.

He drove down the street and found the vacant lot that the waitress had told him about earlier, only he found that the vacant lot was occupied. He parked across the street and started walking towards the three teenage boys. They were standing around a parked car. The hood was up and one of the boys was looking down at the engine. Grissom heard them talking about the car until they noticed he was now on the sidewalk and coming towards them.

"Excuse me," Grissom started, "I'm Gil Grissom, with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

But one of the boys interrupted him before he could continue any further, "Look mister, uh, we aren't trespassing… we didn't do anything."

Grissom nearly laughed, "I'm not the police, I'm with the crime lab. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about something that happened earlier."

"S-sure, we'll help you out; just don't tell anyone we were trespassing, okay?"

"Sure thing. Okay, earlier, around nine, did you see a blue car go by? Did you hear any screams or yelling or see a brunette woman, in her thirties, being attacked or anything at all like that?" Grissom asked.

This time, one of the other boys spoke up, "Actually, I saw a blue car drive by. He was going pretty fast. I'd say around sixty or seventy miles per hour. He was headed towards the strip, but then about ten minutes later… the blue car came zooming back this way."

"Did you see the driver or see how many people were in the car?" Grissom persisted.

"There was only a driver in the car when it was headed towards the strip." The boy continued, "But I couldn't tell when it came back this way again. It was going too fast to tell."

"Thank you," He could tell that the three boys were becoming more and more nervous and uncomfortable, "Did you see anything else?"

"No, that's it. After that we just went back to work on my car. I guess we really didn't think anything was wrong, just a speeding car… not too uncommon, I guess."

"Thanks, you've been a big help and, uh, sorry I scared you," Grissom replied.

"Yeah, no problem."

The boys went back to working on the car and Grissom walked back across the street to get in Catherine's Tahoe. He started the engine and drove back down the street; Catherine was standing by the curb, sipping a cup of coffee; a grim look on her face.

I guess I'll end there for this chapter… Thanks go out to all who gave me such wonderful reviews! I probably wouldn't be writing this if I didn't know people liked it. D

If I don't update soon its probably because I have a lot of stuff to do, which probably won't get done until last minute because I enjoy writing fan fics over biology lab write- ups, but I have to write an essay, do a Shakespeare project, a lab write-up, and a health project. I'll try to write as much as I can this week so I can type it up and have it posted next week. Just wanted to let you know. I hope to get the next chapter up ASAP, cause you guys who read this rock!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or its characters.

Chapter 5

(Short summary- this chapter is angstyish, but it gets better at the end. Gil reflects on the past year or so)

He stepped out of the car, confused. "Any new information?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good or bad?"

"Well, I suppose it's good. We found a ransom note in Sara's trunk."

"What did it say? Was it written or typed?"

"It said, 'Get rid of the evidence and we will return her unharmed. Use your time wisely; do not make any stupid mistakes.' That's it; not much of a ransom note. I'm not sure what it means, and oh, it was typed. The lab has it now."

"Good, maybe we can find out where is came from."

"Do you know what it meant?" Catherine asked.

"No, not yet. Any other evidence?"

"Actually, yes. Greg got a shore print near Sara's car. I'm guessing one of the cars in the parking lot was leaking and whoever made that shoe print stepped in it."

"Hopefully, it's Sara's attacker. Brass is trying to locate the Cirus." He sighed, "Cath, I don't like this." He sat on the curb and she took a seat next to him.

"We'll find her; everything will be fine."

"Did you two ever make up after that argument?" he asked.

"Actually, we really didn't talk about it. I guess we just tried to forget about it and just moved on. Why?"

"I screwed up. I was wondering if I was the only one who she was angry at… I guess so."

"What happened? Besides what I already know?" She asked.

"I asked Sophia out to dinner. How could I be so foolish? When Sara needed someone, I pushed her away."

Catherine was shocked, "You and Sophia?"

He shook his head, "Not like that. It was strictly a friend-friend dinner. She wanted to leave the lab and she's a great CSI…"

"Did you not notice that ever since a year ago she changed? The DUI, our argument…."

"It's my fault…"

"Don't blame yourself for Sara's disappearance, Gil. It could have been any one of us."

"No, it is my fault, Catherine. I made her unhappy. She told me everything she went through and a year ago, I told myself that I couldn't take a risk and be with her. I should have; maybe all this could have been avoided."

It was then that Greg came over, "Hey, you two okay over here?"

Catherine nodded, "What's up?"

"Brass just walkie-talkied me about a blue car… He said to let you know that Judge Patterson noticed a blue car in the court parking. He's going over there to check it out now."

It was then that Grissom got that look on his face; the one like a kid would have on his face when it was Christmas morning. "Tell him I'll be right there."

"Sure," Greg said, pulling out his cell phone.

Grissom hurried back into the Tahoe.

"Whoa, wait! You're running off in my car and you didn't even tell me what the hell is going on in that head of yours yet!" She exclaimed.

"Just a hunch."

"Just a hunch, huh? That look on your face is telling me that you've definitely found something out. Spill."

"Sara and I had to be at court today. If the blue car was found in the parking lot of the court house and the ransom note said, 'Get rid of the evidence.' Put that all together and tell me what my hunch is."

"You aren't thinking…"

"It's just a hunch. Oh, the Tahoe…your Tahoe. I'll get it back to you, or have Brass come and pick you up. I promise."

"Just go follow that hunch," she replied, worried about Sara and Grissom, in a way, at the same time.

Grissom pulled into the courthouse parking lot and found Brass over on the sidewalk, talking to Judge Patterson.

"Brass," Grissom nodded, "Judge. Greg told me you found a Blue Cirus; possibly belonging to a suspect…"

"Yeah," Brass replied, "Right over there." He pointed over to where two officers were standing in front of the blue car. "We didn't touch it. We were waiting for you to get over here. I've got a warrant, but we haven't found the owner of the car yet."

"Did you hear about the ransom note?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, Greg told me about it. I was going to ask you what you made of it, but judging by that look on your face I'm guessing you've got it figured out…"

"I have a hunch," he said and then moved over towards the car, peering inside the windows.

Grissom soon found that he was on the right track; he spotted blood on the back seat of the blue car. "Sara…" he whispered.

A/N Okay, I'll end that chapter there. Okay, I know I said I'd have a chapter up a couple of days ago, but this week was just as bad as last week. Hopefully, with all my essays, labs, and presentations done I can finally get to more writing. I still have to present my Bio power point (5-10 minute speech) Ugh, I hate getting up in front of the class, but I guess I'll do okay. At least after I'm done that I can stop fretting about it. Lol. I'll update ASAP. D Thanks to everyone who reviewed and don't worry, I'll update very soon. Well yawn I'm going to bed to relax before my presentation tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, nor do I make any profit from writing this.

A/N Sorry this took so long for me to update. Again, school is pretty busy and I don't have that much time to write. I'll try my best to update more often. Thanks for all the reviews!

The blue car they found was registered to a Jonathan A. Craft; a suspect Grissom questioned a few years back. It was a homicide; two teens found dead, stabbed to death. Jon Craft was the owner of the 'one stop shop' the two kids' bodies had been dumped behind. It was his knife that stabbed the two kids, as well, but he wasn't guilty. Apparently, his friend has framed him. Grissom stood outside the car which was now parked in the lab's garage. He was wondering if Jon Craft thought he could pull off a murder and make it look like he was once again being framed or if Mr. Craft really was being set up again. Maybe someone was using Jon Craft's car to throw Grissom off.

He opened up the car and looked inside, glancing over everything briefly before he would delve in deeper to try and find every piece of evidence the car held. Doing this only reminded him of one case before Sara's DUI. He and Sara were working together, gathering evidence off a suspect or victim's car, frankly, he didn't recall that detail. She was angry that day; angry at him. He remembered her telling him what a stupid reason he had for nominating Nick for the promotion. It's just now that he realized how unhappy he made her. Sometimes, most of the time, he would try to avoid her, but now he wished he'd been with her more times than he had. And even still, he regretted turning down her dinner off that time after the lab explosion. All he could do now was try his hardest to find her and make sure she was alright. He didn't want to think about what he'd do if she wasn't okay.

A few moments passed and Warrick walked by, stopping to check in with Grissom, "Hey Griss."

"Hello. Anything new?" Grissom looked up.

"I found a necklace at the crime scene just after you had left. I just sent it over to trace, see if we can get any DNA off of it and possibly verify it as Sara's."

Grissom nodded, "We just had this car brought in."

"Yeah, Brass was telling me; belongs to Jonathan Craft, right? You need any help with it; I'm waiting for the lab results."

"Thanks; I'll take the front, you take the back."

Grissom opened up the driver's side door and took a look around. He looked to the head rest and spotted a hair. It was small and blonde, not fitting to the darker-haired man the car belonged to.

"Someone besides Jonathan drove this car lately," He told Warrick.

"A mom, dad, sister, brother, friend…" Warrick named the possibilities.

"Most likely male, but I don't recall him having any brothers and his dad had darker hair, balding slightly."

"So we're temporarily ruling out his immediate family. A friend, then?" Warrick asked.

"Seems likely. Brass is bringing Jonathan in for questioning right now, so I guess we'll find out soon."

Both men went back to work in silence. The only sound was that of the two men maneuvering around in the car and bagging any evidence they found. It was nearly an hour and a half before anyone said anything.

Mia came in the doorway, he face flushed, "I have two matches for DNA on that necklace. One is Sara's; the other is 'unknown.'"

"What about the prints I gave you… did a match come up?"

"Yes, that's the odd part. It's a match to Barry Steingard."

"The lawyer?" Grissom questioned.

"The lawyer," She confirmed.

"You don't think?" Warrick asked.

"It's a possibility," Grissom said.

"Why?"

"There's plenty of motive, but what's more important is that we have another suspect and we're that much closer to finding Sara."

Mia, who figured she wasn't needed there anymore, said, "I have to go; I'm up to my ears in work and Ecklie was breathing down my neck earlier."

"See you later," Warrick replied as she walked out the door and back into the lab.

Brass sat at the desk opposite Jonathan Craft. Another officer stood behind Mr. Craft and by the exit.

"Well isn't this dejavou (A/N I have no idea if I spelled that right), Jon? Okay, so the blue Chrysler, it's your?" Brass said, folding his hands.

"Yeah, I've had it for a while now, but the other week I was driving behind a dump truck… some big stone came flying out at me and cracked the windshield. It was at the shop until a couple days ago, so I've been driving a rental."

"Do you let anyone else drive your car? Friends? Relatives?"

"Well, yes. I mean, if a friend needs to borrow the car, I'd hand the keys over. I'd rather walk or take the bus wherever I have t go, have a little change every once and a while, you know?"

Brass nodded, "Who was the last person, besides you, to drive in your car?"

Jon thought for a second, "Well, yesterday my friend borrowed it, never brought it back though. He said he was going to get gas for his truck. Apparently, some hooligans thought they'd drain his tank overnight as a prank."

Brass nodded again, "You said he never brought it back?"

"Nope; I called him, but he never picked up the phone or called back. I stopped by his house and nobody was home."

"Okay, did your friend take anybody in your car with them, or did he lend it to anybody?"

"Like I said, I haven't spoken to the guy since yesterday. You can go look for him if you want; maybe you'll have more luck that I did."

Brass handed him a piece of paper. "Sure, write down your buddy's name and address for me, then you're free to go."

"Thanks," Jon said, scribbling down his friend's contact information on the paper.

The man was escorted to the parking lot and Brass picked up the paper. The name written down was David Roberts. He couldn't help but wonder why the name seemed so familiar.

A/N Okay, there's the end of that chapter. I should have more time to write this upcoming week. I'm finally finished with my project and I don't have a lab write up due this week so I have more free time. I'm really sorry it took so long to update this. I'll try to have the next chapter up in a few days, if not, then next Friday at the latest. Once again, thanks for all the awesome reviews! D You guys rock!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, nor do I make any profit from writing this.

A/N Thanks for the lovely reviews. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. I'm not sure how long this will turn out… at least ten I think… maybe more? Also, I went back and made two changes to chapter 6, just some name switches with the lawyer and Jonathan Craft's friend... hopefully the fixed chapter is up now, before I messed it up and I just had to go back and reload chapter 1 up and the new chapter 6. I hope its fixed now. P

Anyway, Chapter 7:

Grissom now sat at the grey table opposite David Roberts; Brass was standing behind him.

"David, hello; I just need to ask you a few questions." Grissom said.

"Sure, anything you'd like to know. I'll do my best to answer your questions to my fullest ability."

"Good. Okay," Grissom began. "Detective Jim Brass talked to a friend of yours earlier. You borrowed his car the other day?" He asked.

"Oh, Jon? Yeah; I had to go get gas for my truck. I came out the other morning and the gas light was lit up. I'm pretty sure it's some kids down the street; they're always standing around, looking for anything to do and most of the time…getting into trouble."

"Jonathan told us that you never brought it back. Care to explain?"

"I guess I got side-tracked. I was out pretty much all day and I'm not very technologically advanced, so I don't own a cell phone."

"Where were you all day?"

"I was at work. I work at Mandalay Bay as a part time bartender and waiter at a few of the restaurants. If you want, my boss can confirm my story, but I don't think I clocked in that day; I was running a little late so I just checked in with her and grabbed my uniform from the closet. We were pretty busy that day and I had already lost time by not being on time. The guys needed me as fast as possible."

"How come you were late to work?"

The man seemed to be thinking hard, gnawing slightly on his lower lip.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no," the man replied, "Oh, late for work… Well, you already know I had some car trouble, which is partially why I'm talking to you right now. Plus, I live with my wife and she works more hours than I do. I guess I've taken up her jobs of doing the laundry and going grocery shopping. I had a few errands to take car of for friends and my wife."

Grissom nodded, "One more thing… how did Jonathan Craft's car end up in the courthouse parking lot?"

"My step-dad was in the area the past two days; on Sunday we had a small birthday party for him and he ended up staying a few days because we hardly see each other anymore. He's good friends with Jonathan and he said something about having to give Jonathan something… some papers or something. I really don't know what that was all about, but I figured since he had to give something to Jonathan, he could take Jon's car back. He said something about taking the bus home after that. I guess he got side-tracked, as well. Hey, wait… what's going on that involves Jon's car, anyway?"

Brass looked over at Grissom and decided to take over. Grissom was sitting there with a notebook and pencil in his hands. He was writing something and had that mixed expression on his face; the one of realization and worriment.

"A missing persons case," Brass answered the man, "By the way, your step-father is a lawyer, isn't he. Was he at the courthouse yesterday? I didn't see him there."

The man shrugged his shoulders, "Haven't heard from him since he left to go give Jon the car back. I don't know what you'd want from him anyway… he's a good guy; he'd never do anything wrong. Can I leave now?"

The room was silent and the only noise was the scratching of Grissom's pencil on the pad of paper.

"Sure," Brass replied and the man grabbed his jacket and left.

Brass and Grissom were now alone and Brass was wondering what Grissom had been writing for the past five minutes,

"Gil?" he asked.

Grissom looked up, "Sorry, I just got an idea. I think we need to talk to Mr. Steingard."

Grissom and Brass got up and exited the now empty interview room.

"You okay?" Brass asked.

"I'm not sure," Grissom replied, "What's going to happen if we find her?"

"The same thing that happens when anything happens… nothing."

Brass walked away down the hall, leaving Grissom to ruminate over his statement. Now, the hall was completely empty and it was completely silent. There was nothing to distract him from his thoughts.

He remembered Sara's DUI… inside, he know it was partially his fault. How many times had he turned her down? It was his fault that she wanted to leave three years ago, as well. And then when Sara got angry at Catherine, he should have done something, but she scared him. He didn't know how she would react to anything; and not knowing scared him. And then, before he went to the convention, so many things had happened and he and Sara became even more distant. He felt guilty for taking Sophia out to dinner. She did intrigue him, but he didn't feel the way about her that he did Sara. She wasn't complicated like Sara was, though and it was easier for him to be around her. It was just now that Grissom realized Sophia was only a distracting to keep him from dealing with his feelings for Sara. It was like his hearing problem; he didn't understand it and he didn't want to break away the norm and deal with it. Luckily, he did and the problem was fixed. With Sara, though, he kept ignoring everything and now it was too late… Sara was probably lost.

He stood there, just seeing his thoughts and memories. When Sophia came up behind him, it scared him.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know." He shook his head.

"You know, I was just talking to Greg. He told me how much Sara means to you."

"He did?"

"Actually, he said everyone knows, except you and Sara."

"I've been a fool. She told me a long time again that when I figured out what to do, it would be too late. Now, it truly is too late."

"You'll find her. She may not like me very much, but that's because she's strong willed and stubborn. She's intelligent; she'll be alright."

Grissom nodded, "Thanks and I hope you're right. I… have to go."

Sophia nodded and Grissom walked away down the hall. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he needed to do something, anything to find Sara. He saw Warrick and Catherine walking down the hall and they stopped as he was about to walk by.

"How did the interview with David Roberts go?" Warrick asked.

"I'm getting Brass to find Barry Steingard. David said he lent the car to his step-father and didn't see him after that. I'm taking an educated guess and saying that Barry Steingard, the lawyer for the defendant in that hearing I was supposed to attend today, is how the car ended up at the courthouse."

"Griss, have you even stopped to breathe since you've gotten back from that seminar? Warrick, go talk to Brass and interview Barry Steingard."

"Catherine…" Grissom started.

"No, you're going to take a break. I know you're worried about Sara and I can tell it's getting to you, so we go grab a coffee and talk."

He had to admit; he was pretty stressed out and worried, but how would he feel if he was on a coffee break and someone found Sara? He'd feel like he'd done nothing and he could only imagine how hurt she would be if he wasn't out there looking for her. However, he knew that Catherine was relentless and he had no choice but to follow her orders.

"Here are my notes from David Roberts's interview." He handed Warrick the clipboard. "Call me if any important information comes up or if anything happens."

"Of course." He took the clipboard and got out his cell to call Brass and see if they found Mr. Steingard.

Warrick took off down the hall and Catherine turned towards Grissom. "Come on; you're coming with me to get some coffee and try and relax."

He followed her out to the parking lot and out to her Tahoe. Outside it was so bright and cheerful. Grissom wondered how such a wonderful day for everyone else had turned into such a miserable one for him.

A/N Thanks for the lovely reviews! D The next chapter should be up soon. I had some time to plan everything out for this, so writing the next few chapters won't take so long. And as with everyone else… I can't see how this turns out. I know, that probably sounds weird, lol.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI nor its characters.

A/N Thanks for reviews! D

Chapter 8

They pulled into the parking lot of one of the small cafes along the strip. Both sat in one of the booths by the front window. It was around four o' clock and the place was pretty busy, full of tourists and locals alike.

All the better, Grissom thought; maybe it would keep his mind off of everything.

A waitress came over to take their orders a few minutes later.

"Two Coffees," Catherine said and the woman nodded.

"Anything else?" the waitress then said.

"That's all, thanks."

"Okay, I'll be right out with that."

The waitress walked away and Catherine was the first to say anything.

"Stop it, Gil. You're taking all of this so hard on yourself and it isn't your fault." She wanted to get on some other subject to cheer him up, but she had no idea what to say.

Meanwhile, Warrick had found Brass and was getting filled in on all the details.

"Barry is being brought in now." Brass said, "Any by the look on Grissom's face, I have a feeling that we might get some useful information out of this guy."

"Yeah… so Barry Steingard is the lawyer of Garret Torren… Sara was telling me about that. Torren murdered two women, raped them and then suffocated them. Grissom and Sara wrapped that case up a few weeks ago when you were away. I heard Torren was a real creep. Cath told me that Grissom said Torren made some sick remarks to Sara."

"Hopefully that's got nothing to do with what happened."

"I know. Sara's like a sister to me; I don't want anything to happen to her."

Just then, Brass's cell phone rang. "Jim Brass," he said. A few moments went by. "Okay, we'll be right there." He flipped the phone closed.

"What was that about?"

"They found Mr. Steingard; he's in interview room four."

"We'd better hurry then." Warrick replied and they headed down the hall.

Grissom sipped on his coffee and Catherine just sat there, watching the other people in the café.

"Alright, talk; I can't stand the awkward silence," Catherine finally said.

"Barry Steingard had something to do with this, I know it."

Catherine sighed, "Well, let's go over what we know so far."

"The car belongs to Jonathan Craft. Mr. Craft lent it to David Roberts, who then lent it to his step-father, Barry Steingard. Barry's DNA was found on Sara's necklace, which was found at the crime scene, along with blood that was also Sara's."

"And there's the ransom note, which makes _me_ suspect that Barry has something to do with this, as well," Cath said.

Grissom finished up his coffee, "Yes, that ransom note has had me thinking. Barry Steingard, big time lawyer and lawyer of Garret Torren, a man with a reputation to preserved. He knows that Garret has all of the odds against him and that there's a slim chance he isn't going to lose this one, so he takes action. He takes Sara and leaves the note telling the crime lab to discard the evidence and she'll be okay. That way, he can win the case and look like a better lawyer."

"That makes sense, but we'll have to wait it out. Don't you remember… it was you who always told us to follow the evidence, not what we think or what we want to be true, but what evidence is there."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see what new information turns up when Warrick questions Barry Steingard."

Brass and Warrick finally found themselves down at interview room 4. Mr. Steingard was sitting at the grey table; a police officer stood in the corner and soon left as the two men arrived. They sat down at the table opposite of Barry Steingard.

Mr. Steingard nodded and then asked, "Could you please tell me why I'm here before you start the interrogation?"

"If you insist-"

"I was just asking," the man said; perhaps he found Brass's tone a little harsh, but Brass wasn't always happy-happy, joy-joy… especially not today.

"Earlier this morning one of our CSIs was kidnapped."

"I'm sorry."

Brass wanted to say something along the lines of, "Why, it's not your fault, is it?" but he kept his comment to himself.

"Uh… thank-you."

Warrick took over from there.

"Okay, firstly, would you care to explain why you had Jonathan Craft's car and why you never returned it?" Warrick asked.

"Jon is an old friend… I told David I'd take the car over when I left; it's been a while since I've gone over and said 'Hello.'"

"And somehow you never made it there…"

"I had somewhere to be. I was going to stop by afterwards."

"Where did you have to be?"

"Court; Garret Torren's trial was this morning, but it was called off for some reason."

Warrick looked to Brass and then asked, "Why is your DNA on Sara Sidle's necklace, which was found at the crime scene?"

"What the hell- why _would_ my DNA be on the necklace of some woman I don't know?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here…"

"Maybe I saw it on the ground and picked it up to see what it was. Hey, maybe I thought she looked cute and helped her put it on. How do I know?"

Warrick could tell Brass was getting angry; he knew he sure was getting angry, but he tried to keep his cool, "Or maybe you saw her in the parking lot and you knew very well what you were doing. You attacked her and she tried to get away… you grabbed her shirt and accidentally got her necklace, too, causing the chain to break."

"No, no," he said, "I'm sure it wasn't like that."

"So you do know how your DNA got onto her necklace?"

Barry nodded; he knew that if he didn't cooperate, he'd be in even bigger trouble, "She must have been holding onto it and I tried to grab her arms and it must have snapped."

"Barry, where is she?" Brass jumped in.

"I-I don't know," he said, "I really don't know."

A/N End of chapter 8. I still have to finish writing chapter nine, so it should be up next week. Thanks for reading and reviewing; you guys rock!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or its characters.

A/N Thanks for all of your awesome reviews! You guys rock - Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 9

"Gil," Brass said, coming into Gil Grissom's office without knocking. "We have a problem."

Silence; Brass must have been expecting Grissom to say something.

He continued his story, "Half an hour ago, Warrick and I talked to Barry Steingard. He said he drove the car and kidnapped Sara, but he doesn't know where she is. Well, as if that isn't bad news enough, I just found out that Mr. Steingard is dead. Some neighborhood kids found his body out by where you talked to those kids earlier."

Grissom stood up and his face held a look of horror and worriment. He stood up and began pacing back and forth behind his desk.

"What do we do now?" Brass asked.

Grissom shook his head, "You know… for the first time, I really don't know."

The house was quite large for Las Vegas and it looked quite peculiar as it was brick and not the off-white stucco like the other houses that lined the streets of Auburn Avenue in the Metro area of Las Vegas. The two police officers had been sitting outside in their patrol car in front of the house for some hours now. Every once in a while they'd check in and give a small report of anything that had went on, which was absolutely nothing. There had been no movement, no signs of any person or animal in the vicinity of the small yard. Not even a single car had pulled into the cement driveway or had even driven by for that matter. It seemed as if the whole street was a ghost town, uninhabited by any living organism. Eventually, the sun went down and the two police officers radioed in; not only to check in again, but they had a weird feeling of eeriness that would only go away if they saw or at least heard another human's voice besides their own.

"Dave," the man said, "I'm sending Teddy and Mickey over so you two guys can go home, shower, and sleep. They should be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks," Dave radioed back and then turned to his friend who was riding shotgun and said, "Finally."

"Yeah, I missed my daughter's recital. Amy's going to be pissed off again and I know Michelle is probably upset."

"They'll forgive you. Still, I wish we'd been waiting here all this time for _something_, but absolutely nothing happened and all we did was sit here in this damned cop car."

The two men noticed a vehicle coming around the curve, "Hey that must be Teddy and Mickey."

However, the vehicle pulled into the driveway that they'd been sitting there watching all day and then two men now had their eyes glued to the house.

Dave picked up his walkie-talkie and radioed in, "This is Dave. A car just pulled into the house. Based on what I know, it looks like it belongs to our guy."

The other two police officers arrived shortly and Brass got a call on his cell phone.

"Yeah, Jim? This is Christopher. I realize you're busy doing other things, but we found the guy."

"The dealer?" Brass asked.

"Yeah," the man replied and then gave Brass the address.

"I'll be right there."

Brass turned to Grissom, "I'm helping a friend out. They're short a few guys and I've been helping with this case. If anything turns up, I'll have my cell."

Grissom nodded and Brass hurried out the door.

Brass arrived at the brick house and greeted the other four men quietly. The five of them walked up to the house and knocked on the front door… nobody answered, but Brass heard someone inside.

"This is Detective Jim Brass with the LVPD, open up!" Brass said.

Slowly, the door opened, but the person who answered the door wasn't who they had expected. A young female opened the door. Her left eye was swollen and a dark blue – purple color and she looked like she was high.

"We're looking for Toby Rogers. Is he here?" Brass asked, but the girl didn't give an answer, just stared at nothing in particular. "Mr. Rogers? If you're in there, it would be wise to stop hiding!" Brass yelled into the house.

Still, there was no reply and Brass decided to head inside. The girl who answered the door just slumped against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Keep your gun handy, we don't know if this guy is armed. Go around and check every room, we aren't letting this guy get away again," Brass instructed.

The other four officers nodded and took their guns out. They each began going through the rooms.

Dave took the first room on the left. It looked like a laundry room, well, at least, it had a washer and dryer, but they didn't seem to be in working condition. Piles of clothes and trash lay strewn all over the floor, but there was nobody hiding in there. He went back out to the hallway and headed to the next room; the kitchen. It was pretty small and dark, but he didn't see anyone there as he quickly moved about.

He saw Brass in the hallway and let him know that those two rooms were clear and then he headed to the living room. It seemed empty at first, but then Dave saw something move behind the couch. Toby Rogers was kneeling on the ground, trying to hide apparently, but not doing a very good job.

"Stand up and keep your hands where I can see them!" Dave yelled and at this, the other four men headed into the room.

"Whoa, what'd I do?" Toby Rogers pleaded, "I didn't do anything, I swear…"

"Yeah, you didn't get that girl high or beat her up did you?" Brass moved in, taking control of the situation. "Come on, you're coming down to the station."

"You can't come in here without papers. You bastards searched my house, you broke in!" the man said.

"Oh, we have a warrant, now get going!"

Two of the police officers cuffed the man and walked him down the hall, Brass and the other two men brought up the rear.

Dave was walking down the hall next to Brass when some sound caught his attention. It was a faint sound, a tapping. The man wasn't even sure if he was actually hearing something or maybe he was just imaging it, but he stopped and listened.

"What's the matter?" Brass asked.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Tapping."

"The rooms are clear, right? What could it be, the dryer tumbling some clothes?"

"I don't know, my ears are probably imaging sounds. I've been in that damned cop car all day and have been bored out of my mind."

"Yeah, I know that feeling."

They got down the hall and walked past the girl who was now passed out, leaning against the wall.

"What do we do about her?" Dave asked.

"Go radio someone to come down and get her, I guess… make sure she's alright. She should probably be looked at."

Dave nodded and headed out to his patrol car.

Brass stood there in the hallway and he thought he heard the faint tapping that Dave had heard, but then it stopped.

"Hello?" he called. "Is anybody there?"

He received no answer, but he heard the tapping again. His curiosity got the better of him and he went to look around the place once more. He glanced around the rooms and came to the kitchen. He still heard the tapping and it seemed to be a little louder now, but he couldn't be sure. He hadn't taken a break or slept for that matter in over twenty four hours.

A/N Yes, I'll end this chapter here just to make it more interesting and suspenseful. I hope this chapter didn't confuse anyone. Hmm, don't worry, you'll find out what happened to Barry Steingard and Sara in the next chapter I think or the one after. D

Once again, thanks for the lovely reviews! You guys rule!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, nor do I make any profit from writing this.

A/N Thanks for reviews! I love reviews and you guys are awesome! D

Chapter 10

Dave came back in, "The paramedics are on the way." He walked into the hallway and looked up to see that Brass wasn't in it, "Jim?"

"Yeah," Brass replied and came back out of the kitchen, "I'm in here."

Dave walked up to the doorway of the kitchen, "What are you doing?"

"You're right, something is making a tapping sound and I think it's coming from around here."

"There's nobody in here and I'm pretty sure the TV isn't on."

"Just look around."

Dave shrugged and started opening cabinets and drawers, looking for the source of the sound. Both of them ended up in the same spot by the back of the room. Right in front of both of them was a medium sized hutch cabinet.

"What the hell?" Dave asked.

"I guess we should check this, too."

"Tell me, again, why are we even trying to figure out what is making the noise. We got the guy and the paramedics are on their way to pick up that girl. We don't need to be in here."

"You can't tell me you aren't the least bit curious…"

"I have a family to get home to," Dave said and then sighed. "I could be home, lying next to my wife or even just relaxing and watching some late night TV."

"I don't have anyone to go home to, except the television… but I'm not going home after this anyway."

"So," Dave said, trying to make small talk so it wouldn't be too awkward, "Have you heard from Ellie lately?"

"You know how things are. The last time I saw her was in Los Angeles. Her friend was killed, but she was okay."

"That's good. Has she changed her ways or is she still like she was before?"

"She's the same. I wish I could talk to her or just spend some father-daughter time together for a day or two; it would be nice, you know? Well, she might not care, but at least I know I care about her, whether she returns it or not."

"If she knows that, maybe she'll mature someday and even if you aren't there, she'll know you cared."

"Yeah," Brass said, "Being a parent is so stressful."

Dave just sighed again and opened the hutch cabinet's drawers and doors, finding nothing. It was then that the tapping stopped for a few minutes, leaving the two men in silence and then the paramedics came and the two men exited the room.

"Hello," the one man said, "This the girl?"

"Yes," Brass replied.

"Is she the only one?"

"We cleared the house. If there's anyone in there, we didn't see 'em."

The tapping started up again and for the first few times it seemed louder and then it stopped again.

The paramedic looked at Brass with a strange look on his face.

"Hold on. Okay, where the hell is that coming from?" Brass said and went back down the hall, determined to find out where the sound was coming from.

xxxxxxxxx

Warrick and Grissom walked up to the body, which David was hovering over. It was Barry Steingard, alright, except he wasn't in the condition in which they had spoken to him a little over forty five minutes ago. Barry Steingard's lifeless body lay on the ground, the head in a pool of deep red blood. The last time they had seen Barry, the man was sitting across the table in front of them, dressed in a grey business suit with a white shirt and black tie. He seemed more relaxed now than when he was being questioned forty-five minutes ago.

"Dang," Warrick said and he walked over to the body and David.

"As you already know, he died within the hour. Cause of death, bullet to the back of the head, but Doc Robbins will check to make sure this anything else that could have caused his death. I guess there isn't much other than that. There aren't any bruises, scrapes, no signs of struggle. Looks to me like he didn't see it coming, or it was planned, but that's for you to determine."

"Thank-you, David," Grissom said and David nodded and stood up. "Okay, Warrick. I'll take the body, you take the surrounding area."

"Sounds like a plan."

The two of them processed the scene in silence, like they had the car that belonged to Jonathan Craft. Grissom crouched by the body and started collecting anything that might be useful. Firstly, he took pictures of the wound and then stood up and got pictures of the whole body from various angles. Other than the wound, David was right, there were no signs of struggle, no scratches or bruises, nothing. There were no markings that would have been made from the nozzle of a gun pressed up against the back of the skull, but it did seem like Mr. Steingard was shot from a pretty close distance.

Warrick didn't have much either, but what he did have could be a big help. He found two shoe prints and photographed and measured them. He also found the bullet casing from the gun that killed the victim. He also found spit and he smiled. Not only would this be a big help in trying to figure out who killed Barry Steingard, it made him remember a case he worked with Sara on a few years back. It was the one with the boxers. He and Sara were checking out the ring and Sara looked at the spit bucket. Sure, it wasn't some huge, happy event to remember, but remembered the look on her face and chuckled at the thought.

"What?" Grissom asked.

"Found some spit," Warrick replied simply.

"Uhh… was it tap dancing or something, or perhaps I'm the only one that doesn't laugh when I see saliva?"

"No, I just remembered something."

Grissom just shrugged and stood up. The paramedics had the body loaded up into the truck and taken down to Doc Robbins at the morgue.

xxxxxxxxx

"Hello?" Brass called out into the vacant house and the tapping started up again.

Once more, he was back in the kitchen and now he had his head pressed up against the walls, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. He listened closely and walked right into the hutch cabinet again. Curious, he tried to move the cabinet, but wasn't strong enough.

"Hey, can I have some help in here? I want to move something," he said and the two other men came in. The other paramedic was in the hallway with the girl.

"What are you doing?" Dave asked.

"Just help me move this."

The three men pushed the hutch cabinet out of the way and behind it there was another door. Immediately, Brass got his gun out.

"Count of three?" he asked.

The other two men nodded.

One… Two… Three… He quickly turned the knob and opened the door, but he didn't need his gun. In fact, it slipped out of his hand he turned to the paramedic and Dave.

"Oh my God! Help me out here."

The paramedic pulled the woman out of the small, dark closet and Brass found a knife in one of the kitchen drawers to cut the ropes that bound her hands and feet. The paramedic cut off the rag that was tied around the woman's mouth while Brass whipped out his cell phone.

"Gil, get over here, now!"

"What's going on?" Grissom asked, not knowing what kind of answer to expect.

"We found Sara!"

A/N Yeah, another cliff hanger. ) Thanks again for reading and reviewing!

I know this chapter was really short, but the next chapter will be longer.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or its characters.

Chapter 11

Grissom didn't care if he was speeding or if Warrick looked like he was too scared of him to say anything. He just held on to the door. When they got to the house, Grissom barely stopped before he got out and then practically ran over to the ambulance where Brass was standing, along with a small group of paramedics.

He saw her lying on the stretcher and just stopped. Brass noticed and he came over. "Gil?"

"She's alive, right?"

"Yes, barely, they're taking her to the hospital. It's a good thing we were here or else she'd probably be dead."

He turned and walked over the other ambulance.

"You're her supervisor?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"She's not doing too great. She was barely conscious when we found her. You can come along with us to the hospital if you'd like, I understand she doesn't have any family in the area."

Grissom nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance with them, leaving Brass and Warrick behind.

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Warrick spoke to Brass first, "What the hell is going on?"

"We found Sara. I guess we were lucky or maybe it was just a coincidence."

"Probably a bit of both," Warrick replied and Brass nodded.

"I'm worried about Gil, too; I've never seen him like this and believe me, I've seen him upset before, but never like this."

"Well, this is Sara we're talking about, of course he's worried. Aren't we all?"

"I'm glad Gil wasn't there to find her. I, myself, cringed at the sight of her lying in there. It's a good thing she was still conscious when we were there and she had strength left to bang on the wall, or else she would have died in there."

"I know." Warrick shook his head. "Could you imagine? I don't even want to think about it. Since the team split, I barely see Sara anymore."

"Yeah, Ecklie just hates Gil, so he figured he'd ruin all our lives. Speaking of Ecklie, I guess we should go tell him the news."

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They arrived back at the lab and found their way down to Ecklie's office. Both stopped outside the door, peering in to see Ecklie, sitting at his desk reading some papers. It was strange. His desk was very neat and everything had a certain place. There was only a small stack of papers and then the paper that he was looking at. The small name plate looked as if it had been polished not too long ago. Ecklie seemed to be quite calm and unaffected by any cases that were going on and the fact that one of his CSI's was missing. Perhaps it was that he was too stupid to do his job and when it came to forensic work, he was a complete moron. He'd only gotten this far in the job because, somehow, he knew the right things to say or do for the right people. He didn't care about those beneath him, except that they do their job and don't make him look like a fool. Other than that, Grissom and his team were worthless.

"Conrad, do you think Warrick and I could have a quick chat with you?" Brass said, still staying outside the door.

Ecklie simply placed the paper he was looking at back on top of the pile of other papers and looked up, nodding.

Brass and Warrick walked in and sat down in the two chairs in front of Ecklie's desk.

"Do you know what this is about?" Brass asked.

"Miss Sidle?"

Brass gave Warrick a look that said, "So he's not a _complete_ moron after all."

"Yes," Warrick replied.

"If this is about that interview with Barry Steingard, I was already told about that and Warrick, you are supposed to be with Grissom working that crime scene."

Then Brass gave Warrick another look that said, "Nope, I was wrong. What an idiot!"

"Uhh… actually." Warrick started and then Brass cut him off.

"Sara Sidle was found in the home of Toby Rogers. Right now, she's being taken to the hospital."

Ecklie looked surprised and like he was actually human. He finally showed that he did posses some emotions. "Where's Grissom?"

"He went in the ambulance with her," Warrick said and then stood up. "I'm going to go. I need to check out some stuff."

Ecklie nodded and Warrick stood up. He walked out of the small office and into the hall. He needed to get out of there, not only because Ecklie drove him nuts and made him uncomfortable, but he thought he should go tell the others. Greg's shift was still on, but Catherine's, Nick's, and his own shift ended a few hours ago. He knew they were all as worried about Sara as he was.

He got to the break room and got out his cell phone. Cath was the first person he thought to call. He had to get back to work on the new crime scene, so he figured Cath was better friends with Grissom than Nick. If she wasn't busy, she could go down to the hospital and see if Grissom was okay.

"Willows," she answered her phone. In the background he heard Lindsey telling her that the chocolate chip muffins were ready to get out of the oven. "Hold on a second," she said into the phone and came back a few minutes later. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Cath, I need you to do me a favor."

"Yeah, sure, what's up? Did they find Sara?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, just a little while ago."

"Is she alright? Does Grissom know?"

"That's what my favor is about. He's over at the hospital with her now. I have a case to work, so could you go over there and make sure he's alright?"

"Yeah, yeah; of course. Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Warrick replied, "I will be. How about you?"

"I think so."

"Alright, well, I guess I'll see you later."

"Bye."

He clicked his cell phone off and put it down on the table.

"So, is she going to be okay?" someone behind him said and nearly gave him a heart attack. It was Greg.

"I don't know, man. I hope so."

"This day has been so tiring," Greg sighed.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

Greg rolled his eyes, "Ecklie said I'm helping you out with Barry Steingard thing."

"Well I guess we should get going then; let's figure this one out… for Sara."

Greg nodded and followed Warrick out the door.

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"Hey Lindsey, why don't you get some plastic wrap and a plate for some of those chocolate chip muffins to bring with us?" Catherine said.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to the hospital; Sara and Grissom are there."

"Mom, what's going on?" Lindsey asked.

"I'll explain it to you in the car."

Catherine pulled on a light sweater and light blue jeans. Lindsey wrapped up some muffins and grabbed her book bag. If they were going to be there a while, which she had anticipated, she was going to need something to do. If she didn't feel like doing her homework, at least she could pull out some paper and doodle or something. A few minutes later, Catherine and Lindsey hurried out of the house and into Catherine's Tahoe.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Lindsey finally asked only a minute into the ride.

"Sara was taken, but Brass and Warrick found her. I'm guessing Grissom left the scene in the ambulance with her to the hospital, so he's probably by himself, sitting in the waiting room." Catherine explained.

Lindsey wasn't sure what to say; she knew her mom was upset right now. "I hope she's alright."

"Yeah, me too."

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Grissom exited the back of the ambulance and was told to go sit in the waiting room. He was told they would come and talk to him after they made sure Sara was going to be alright. So now he was simply sitting in one of the old and rather uncomfortable chairs in the small room of the hospital. Not surprisingly, he wasn't the only one. This hospital was usually pretty busy, being in Las Vegas. Nearly every night there was always a rather large number of incidents, whether it be injuries from fights, or drunk-driving accidents. So he tried to relax and calm down. He closed his eyes and right now he wished his hearing problem would just turn up again so he didn't have to hear all the people talking and the doctors with the other patients' families.

He wished he could get the sight of Sara out of his mind. She looked so weak and helpless lying there on the stretcher. It made him wonder if he could have prevented all of this somehow. What if he had gone out to her car with her, or gone out to her car instead of her. Would this still have happened? Would she still be lying in there, fighting for her life? He wondered if someone was punishing him for hurting her. He saw memories of her. She was standing at the door, "Hey, Gil?"

Wait, she never called him Gil… He snapped out of it and looked up. Catherine was standing beside him and Lindsey was next to her.

"Hey," she said and took the now-empty seat next to him.

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A/N Well, that's the end of this chapter. D Thanks for reading and reviewing. All reviews are much appreciated! )

Also, I don't know if this story has been hard to read for you or not with the changing scenes and all. I put (---'s) to separate the scenes, but I don't know if they showed up or not. I know in one story they didn't and it might have made it slightly confusing. Hehe.

Well, next chapter should be up soon. It's probably going to reveal who Sara's kidnapper was and the whole deal and reasoning behind it and how Barry Steingard and his stepson were involved. I'm thinking that the chapter after that will deal with Sara at the hospital and Grissom.  Just to give you a little preview D


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or its characters, nor do I make any profit from writing this.

A/N Thanks for reading and reviewing! D

Chapter 12

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"Ahh, Toby Rogers, so we meet again," Brass said as he looked through some papers and took a seat across from the man.

"Look, I admit to the drugs and if this is about the girl who answered the door, yes, I gave her the drugs. Please let me go, I know what I did and I will do the time for it."

"That's lovely, but that isn't what this is about and please don't try and tell me you aren't hiding anything or you didn't know about anything."

The man tried to look like he was telling the truth, but Brass could tell the man was hiding something. "Look, sir, all I know is that I did drugs and I gave them to the girl. It was fun. I left her in my house for a while and I went out to a party. It was at my friend Chris's house late last night and into this morning. It was crazy, too. I was way too drunk and I barely remember anything of it, just a few bits and pieces, but I know it was crazy. All of Chris's parties are crazy. I hung out there for a long time. I got there around eleven last night and it didn't stop till late this morning. I think I fell asleep after, because I woke up on his living room floor at around six."

Brass just sat there and listened, hopefully the man would start saying something relevant soon.

And so the man continued, "He kicked me out after that when he finally got a hold of himself and decided that the party was over and everyone should leave. The last time I saw him, he had a trash bag in one hand was gathering up all the cans and trash that were strewn around his house. I got a phone call from a friend and he told me that he needed to go in my house for something. I let him know where the key was and he let himself in."

"What did he need from your house?" Brass asked.

"I don't know, he never really said what he was doing. All he said was he needed to do something. He's a good friend and so I didn't feel I needed to ask. He does favors for me all the time; I figured it was my turn to repay him by doing as he says and not invading his privacy. Anyway, so he went in and did whatever. When I got back, I went inside and then you guys came to my door. I guess you were waiting for me?"

"Yes," Brass said.

"Well, then you guys came to my door when you saw me pull into the driveway and then I was arrested. I'm guessing your going to tell me why now, right?"

"Yes," Brass said, "I guess I'll start of by saying that you were arrested for selling drugs and the murdering of Ash Miloson. He was found dead on a bench on the strip. He died of a drug overdose; drugs that he bought from you."

"Didn't I just tell you that I admit to doing that? I just told you that I did do drugs, I did sell drugs, I did buy drugs, and I did persuade others to buy, use, and sell drugs. So, just send me to the cell now, please," the man said.

"Not so fast. I still have something else to talk to you about," Brass said quickly. "In a closet of your kitchen, a young woman was found, barely alive. This is why I'm here talking to you right now."

"Look, I'm pretty sure I was drunk and probably high, but I'm also pretty sure I would have known if I stuff some girl in my kitchen closet. I was over a friend's house and I came back alone later when I wasn't drunk. I came home alone, you know, by myself? I have no idea what you're talking about because I didn't harm anyone."

"Well, do you think Miss Parker, the young woman whom we found in your house, would know anything about this then? But I seriously doubt she knocked out one of our CSIs and put her in a closet in your house and then moved a hutch cabinet in front of it… She would need help to move that cabinet if she did have a role in this, you know, she'd need someone with strong arms, someone like _you_."

"What, do you think that if you keep saying I did it then it will come true? I didn't have anything to do with your CSI. I told you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, got it?" Toby asked angrily.

"Okay, so it wasn't you or the girl… So who was it then if you're so smart and know who did it?" Brass leaned back, "I'm all ears."

"Listen, I didn't want to think about it, but the friend I let in could have had something to do with it. If it will get you off my case, go talk to him about it and let me go rot in jail for crimes I actually committed."

"What's your friend's name? Tell me that and you can go with this police officer over here," Brass said and took the pen out from behind his left ear.

"His name is Garret Torren."

"Thanks. If you want, I'll try to put in a good word or two to your judge… try and get you a lesser sentence," Brass said, but not too loudly.

The man simply nodded a thank-you and was escorted down the hall by the police officer who had been standing outside the door.

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A few hours later, Brass and Greg found themselves sitting across the grey table from Garret Torren. The man wasn't young, but wasn't too old either. His hair was salt and pepper and balding slightly. It looked as if he hadn't shaved in about a week, but apparently, the man didn't care to notice. He seemed slightly comfortable sitting there across from the two of them and it seemed to make Brass a bit nervous. He'd rather be sitting across from someone who was as nervous as he was right now rather than someone he would probably have trouble getting any information out of. Mr. Torren probably knew what he was going to say and he probably knew all the tricks in the book from past experiences of this type of situation. Well, in a few moments, Brass would see if his assumptions were accurate.

"Hello, Mr. Torren," Brass said and Greg simply looked up from his papers for a split second.

The man yawned a small yawn and nodded.

"So, what exactly have you been up to earlier today? Did you do anything interesting, any errands to run, places to go, people to see… you know, that type of thing?" Brass asked.

The man ran his left index finger over his bottom lip and then finally spoke, "Actually, you could say I did something interesting. I ran some errands, saw some people, and went to some places."

"Yeah, sounds really interesting…" Brass said, "Care to fill in the details?"

"Well, I went to the grocery store, saw my dad, and took a walk to the park. Is that detailed enough for you?"

"Not exactly what I was looking for, but I bet I can help you remember all the things you left out. I think your 'trip to the grocery store' was actually a trip down to pick up a woman… a woman named Sara Sidle. As for the part about your father, I think you really meant to say that you stopped by a friend's house, beat the woman till she was unconscious and left her in your friend's closet. Oh, yes, then you took a walk in the park… maybe you were hoping to take a walk in the park and not have to worry about the court hearing that was postponed earlier today. You thought after you kidnapped Sara and left the ransom note, trying to make the crime lab get rid of the evidence… your life would be a walk in the park."

"So this is what this is… what, I thought you people didn't bend the truth to what you wanted to hear."

"Wrong-o, pal. I didn't bend the truth; the CSI's followed the truth and not your lies. We follow what the evidence tells us and what the evidence tells us is that you got your lawyer to write a ransom note to leave at the parking lot where he kidnapped Sara Sidle, a CSI here at the crime lab. You drove her to you friend's house and left her in the kitchen closet to die after you beat the living hell out of her. Oh, and by the way, you got your friend into a bit of trouble. Aren't you such a great friend?"

"Hey," Mr. Torren stood up, "I'm pretty sure you can't be talking to me like that. If my lawyer was here…"

"Your lawyer isn't here right now, we've already spoken to your lawyer and he cooperated. I suggest you do the same," Greg Sanders spoke up.

"So you attacked my lawyer, too? You people… he didn't even do anything. If anything happens to him…"

"It's your fault," Greg cut the man off.

The man must have realized that the only thing he could do now was _cooperate_ and maybe he could keep himself from putting more time on his sentence.

"Yes, it is my fault. Barry Steingard was merely a pawn in my plan. Just take him out of the gain and focus on me, the king and most valuable asset. Just Barry out of this."

"Look, Barry gets let off the hook if you tell us exactly what happened, you know, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and don't get skimpy on the details," Brass made his offer.

"Very well."

It was a few minutes before Garret Torren said anything. He took a sip of the bottle of water Brass offered him before they started talking. He rolled the cuffs of his shirt up and then back down again.

"I think you pretty much have it figured out. I was going to go to jail so I came up with this idea. I forced it on my lawyer; I guess you could say I threatened him, so he went along with it. He was to pick up the CSI and leave the note. He brought her to me, but believe me, he didn't harm her. Don't try to pin that or anything on him. I hid her away at a friend's house. It was supposed to get me out of court. You were supposed to throw away the evidence so I wouldn't be sent to prison. Get it?"

"Perfectly clear. You do know that I'm going to have to take you into custody and you will go to prison, right?"

The man nodded, "Listen, I cooperated to save my lawyer. If he ends up in prison, I'll get you for it."

"I told you, we've got ourselves a deal. We could just forget all about Barry Steingard and his role in your plot. Zip, Barry Steingard is just your lawyer now, not your accomplice."

The man nodded and said, "Thank-you." Brass nodded for the police officer to come in and taken Garret Torren. Now, Greg and Brass were left alone.

"Nicely done," said Greg.

"I have a way with words," he replied.

Greg nodded, "I hope Sara's okay. Maybe we should go see."

"Not now," Brass shook his head.

"Because of Grissom?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's there with her."

"Yeah, because of Grissom."

"Maybe he'll stop acting like he doesn't know what's going on. He acts like he doesn't know that Sara likes him. Hey, maybe he'll figure it out and then he'll focus on her and not my secret stash of coffee."

Brass chuckled, "I agree."

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A/N the end of this chapter. Sorry it took me so long to get it up. I decided to finally get on the computer and write this while I watched an old episode of "House." Next chapter should be up as soon as possible and I hope it's soon. Thanks for reviews and for reading! D )


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, I just write fan fiction about it.

A/N This is that last chapter and it's really, really long, so I hope you don't mind. I'm sorry it took so long to get up.

Chapter 13

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"How are you doing?" Catherine asked.

"Oh, fine."

"And Sara?"

"The doctors said they would come and speak to me when everything was done. She looked pretty bad, but the doctors didn't say anything yet."

"I hope everything will be alright," Catherine said, "I'm sure it will be and after this, everything will go back to normal."

"What is _normal_?" Grissom asked, "Is normal me getting up, showering, eating, coming to work, processing scenes and following the evidence, and then going home to start the cycle over. I'm not sure I want to go back to _normal_, maybe I need a change."

"For you?"

"I need to get out of this rut and like you said before, get my head out of the microscope… I just don't know how to do it."

"Well, if you're talking about Sara… you could try to say more than 'Hi' and 'Good Job' to her. If you're talking about you and the lab in general… try to be more friendly; you make people think, well… they don't know what to think of you."

"I know, I know. I just can't seem to be able to do that. I try to open up and be friendly, but I always do it with the wrong people or at the wrong time."

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about Sophia would you?"

He nodded.

"Well, I think that's because you're afraid of people… people and their emotions. You went to Sophia because you knew what to expect from her. You knew she was intelligent and you could have a conversation with her without her getting grossed out about meat, for example. Besides that, you think she's beautiful… you act like your in heaven when you're around her. It's like she has you hypnotized." Catherine tried not to be too blunt on the last statement.

"In ways, you're right. I guess, she's very intelligent and…"

"And so is Sara!" Catherine interrupted him.

"I know, I know. Sara is intelligent, too, but Sara… is Sara."

"Okay, so you like Sara, but you think Sophia is cute and smart? How shallow." Catherine didn't seem to notice that her daughter was still there, watching Grissom and her talk.

"No, it's just that I don't 'understand' Sara. She's, well, complicated."

"Life is complicated, Grissom. You deal with it, you face it, you don't run away."

"I'm sorry," he pleaded.

"Tell her that," Catherine said and turned around, noticing Lindsey sitting next to her. "Sorry, Hun, I didn't mean to ignore you."

"No, it's fine… I don't mind, you were talking to Grissom."

"Alright, so what do I do now?"

"Get your head out of the microscope and turn your head away from that rude, blonde's pretty face. Please, just listen and don't talk. Here, have a muffin," Catherine was pretty fed up with Grissom. She wasn't fond of Sophia and she didn't hide it. Sophia started with the team and expected a welcoming party. Everyone else had to work hard to earn the respect of their co-workers; Sophia just expected to be respected before she even knew anyone's names. Perhaps it was a bit out of jealousy, too. She would see Grissom and Sophia talking as if they had known each other for years and she barely got to see him anymore. No, she didn't like him, but she missed him as a friend. He had always been there for her when the going got tough and now he was slipping away. Besides that, she saw the looks on Sara's face and knew something was up. Grissom wasn't helping much by spending time with a woman he hardly knew.

Grissom bit the muffin and tried to lighten things up, "This is good, did you make it?"

"Me and Lindsey," Catherine replied, also trying to make things less tense. "Tonight before we came. So, how's the Barry Steingard thing going, I heard about it from Greg earlier."

"Well, we didn't get any results yet, at least, not while I was working it. Warrick and I processed the scene and took the evidence that needed to be processed back to the lab. We were interrupted, so I don't have any information on the case besides what we recovered from the scene. Actually, it wasn't that much."

"Well, at least you got the guy who kidnapped Sara… Garrett Torren."

"Yeah, Greg filled me in on everything before you got here. It helps us a little with the Barry Steingard case. We know that whoever killed Barry was not Garrett Torren. Greg told me that he was very defensive of Barry and that he confessed to everything and would cooperate if Barry didn't go to jail. I guess he didn't know that Barry was murdered."

"He could be lying," Catherine suggested.

"Both Greg and Brass said he looked and sounded like he was telling the truth. I'm thinking it's someone who knew Barry and it possibly could be related to Sara's kidnapping. The son has motive, so would Tobey Rogers."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Both will probably be brought in again for questioning; you trained us well… I'm sure Greg or Warrick already thought about that." She smiled.

He nodded, "Thanks." He exhaled and then said, "I'm truly sorry about Sophia. I know I hurt you and Sara."

"You're forgiven. I realize she probably used voodoo to seduce you and get you to flirt with her all the time." She laughed, "Just kidding. Just don't do it again or I'll take one of the microscopes and shove it up one of your nostrils."

Catherine was interrupted by one of the doctors from the hospital; she felt a little embarrassed and hoped the man hadn't heard all of what she just said.

"Are you Gilbert Grissom?" the doctor said, coming closer to them.

"Yes, I am."

"You're Sara Sidle's boss, correct? I'm here to give you an update on her condition."

"Yes, I am. Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine, but she's taken a harsh beating. She has a black eye and several deep scrapes on her left cheek. Two of her ribs are broken and she has a minor concussion. It looks like she was beaten with something metal, I can't say what for sure though, but she's lucky whoever hit her head didn't hit her head on. It only nicked her scalp and caused some minor damage. She also has some other injuries and I'll let you see the report in a little while for all the details."

"Can we see her?" Grissom asked.

"Not at this moment, no. We still have a doctor and a few or the nurses in there checking her out and addressing her wounds. I'll have someone come out and notify you when you can go in and see her."

"Thank-you."

Once again, Grissom slumped back into the uncomfortable hospital chair and sighed.

"Hopefully we'll get to see her soon. It's a good thing she's alright; I can't even imagine what you'd be like if she wasn't okay."

"Me either, so let's try and not think about that scenario."

"Yeah, sorry. Look, call me when they let you go in and see her. Lindsey's bored and we've been here for like two hours. I'd better get her home and ready for bed."

"Okay, I'll call your cell. Lindsey, thanks for the muffin; it was delicious. And thanks for coming. I'll talk to you later."

"Your welcome," Lindsey said, "Sorry about what happened. I hope everything works out."

"By Gil, I'll talk to you later."

The two of them walked out the door and into Catherine's Tahoe; they headed back home so Lindsey could finish up homework and get to bed. Catherine decided to get some rest too; it had been a hard day. As she slipped under the covers on her bed, her jeans and t-shirt still on because she didn't expect to sleep long, she left her cell phone on the night table, awaiting Grissom's call.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Greg and Warrick were working on Barry Steingard's case. Grissom called and told them that they might want to question Toby Rogers and David Roberts, Barry Steingard's step-son. They figured they'd start that and see if anything new came up.

"But Toby Rogers was being held here at the time the murder took place, it's impossible for him to have done it," Greg said.

"I'll have Brass bring in David Roberts then and if nothing turns up, we'll go back and see if our evidence is processed yet."

"But why would his step-son kill him?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

Not a long time later, they were back in the interview room.

"David," Warrick said, greeting the man. "We have a few more questions for you."

"I'll answer as best I can. I really hope I can help you guys out."

"So, where were you earlier today, about right after your step-father was questioned?" Greg asked calmly.

He looked like he was thinking, "Well, I was at home for a little while and then I went to get some groceries."

"Man, what did everyone suddenly devour all the food in their house. Every person we talked to said they stopped to get some groceries or ran some errands. Do you have an alibi?"

"Well no, I couldn't even tell you which one of those little convenient stores I went to, they all look alike and it's not like I have a favorite."

"So you're saying that you weren't seen by anybody all day… you expect me to believe that? How do I not know you are lying to me right now?"

"Why would I kill my own step-father?"

"Well, that's what we would like to know."

"I didn't kill him; I swear! My step-father was a good man and he had nothing to do with what went on today with the missing CSI, okay? He wasn't like that, he didn't do stuff like that to people. At least, the man I knew didn't."

"Well, maybe you didn't think your step-father was the man you thought you knew, even though he was. You thought he kidnapped the CSI or helped and you couldn't take it. He was a good man and you wouldn't stand to have a father, even though he wasn't your real father, who was a criminal. So you talked to him and you told him that. You took his gun and he turned around, even he was ashamed of what he did and how he made you feel, and then you shot him, for both of you."

The man now broke down, unable to keep the truth from the CSIs any longer, "Alright, yes, I was mad at him, but he told me to do it. 'Son, I love you, even if I'm not your true father. I ruined myself. I hurt an innocent person and I hid the truth. Let me die, for the sins I have committed,' he told me and then handed me his gun. He turned around and waited for me to aim and shoot. He was honest and caring and I respected that. I also respected his wishes and did as he said. He told me it was for the best." Tears ran down the man's cheeks.

"David Roberts, you're under arrested for the murder of Barry Steingard," Warrick said and then officer came over and placed the handcuffs on him.

"Will I be stuck in prison, or will I get the death penalty?" David asked.

"I don't know," Warrick said and the man was taken away.

Warrick and Greg walked out into the deserted hallway.

"Wow," Greg said.

"Yeah, wow. I guess we better tell Grissom. Should we call or see if he's still at the hospital?"

"I'm sure he could probably use some company," Greg said, "Anything to get out of the lab and we can see how Sara is doing."

Half an hour later, Grissom was still waiting for any news. An hour and a half had already passed since Catherine left and frankly, he was bored. He had gone there empty handed and by now had already read a couple health magazines, a week old newspaper, and some brochures on cancer and diabetes. He was quite happy when he saw Warrick and Greg walk in and look around for him.

"Griss," Warrick came over and took a seat, "Everything okay?"

"No news yet, but she's alive. That's really all I know. The doctor said a while ago he'd bring the report out for me to look at, but that hasn't happened yet. What's been going on at the lab?"

"David Roberts killed Barry Steingard."

"I had my suspicions. Good job, you guys."

"So we can't see her yet?"

"No, a nurse came by twenty minutes ago and said the doctor would be out to speak to me again soon, so hopefully we can see her in a little while."

When Grissom said this, he looked up and noticed that the doctor was standing in front of him, "Sorry for the long wait. She's sleeping right now, probably because she's been through a lot and we have her on pretty heavy medication for the pain. I guess it wouldn't hurt if you went in there now. There will be a nurse standing by, keeping an eye on her; if you don't mind."

"Not at all, thank-you."

"I must be going now," he handed Grissom a manila folder; "Here's everything for you to look at."

Grissom nodded and stood up.

"She's a floor up and the third door on the right. For right now, I think it would be best if you go in one at a time. Just for safety reasons."

"Of course."

The three men walked to the elevator and got in.

"Grissom, you can see her first," Warrick said, "Greg and I will wait outside."

Greg made a face at this comment; Warrick elbowed him in the ribs, "Ow!" he yelled.

Warrick rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Grissom said and the elevator stopped at the second floor.

The three of them made their way down to the third room on the right and stopped in front of the door. Warrick and Greg sat down in two of the five chairs that sat against the opposite wall.

"I won't be long," Grissom said.

The other men nodded and Grissom walked in. He didn't feel right, seeing Sara in a place like this. It was all white and bland and silent; the only noise what that of the machines that were hooked up to Sara. He sat down next to her in one of the chairs and simply looked at her. Grissom really wasn't sure what to do or what he was going to do when Sara was released from the hospital and came back to work.

"Sara," he said, "How could I let this happen to you?"

He took her hand gently for a moment and then figured he should go and let Warrick and Greg see her. He stood up and walked out of the room.

"Hey, how does she look?" Warrick asked, sort of like a concerned big brother.

"Not too good, but not too bad. She's asleep, so you really can't talk to her right now."

"That's alright. I'll be a few minutes." He said and Grissom took his seat next to Greg while he went in to see Sara.

Warrick walked into the room and sat down. "Hey Sar. You really had us all worried; we're all glad you're alright, especially Grissom." He laughed, "He really cares about you, you know… he's just afraid. I've seen him when you smile; you can tell he pays a lot of attention to you. When you're all better, we should hang out sometime; we hardly ever see each other anymore, being on different shifts and all." He smiled and then stood up, "Gotta go, Greg wants to say hi."

This time Greg came in. He didn't sit down, just stood by the side of the bed. "Hey Sara, it's a good thing you're okay or else I wouldn't have such a great teacher to help me out at work." Greg set his book bag on one of the chairs and opened it up. He pulled out a book; the book that Grissom gave Sara for Christmas a while ago. "Oh yeah," he said and set the book down on the chair, "I found this in the break room trashcan; I'm pretty sure you weren't thinking right when you threw it away… it being from Grissom and all, so I thought I'd give it back to you." He smiled, "You should have seen how worried he was when we found you."

Greg walked out the door and looked back once more to see her again before he walked out of the room. Sure, Greg had a crush on her, but he knew about her crush on Grissom and was learning to respect that and his crush on her was turning into something more like how a little brother looks up to and loves his older sister. She had taught him a lot since he'd been put on Grissom's team with her.

"I told Catherine I'd call her when I heard anything from the doctors, so I'd better call her now," Grissom said and he pulled out his cell phone.

_"Willows,"_ Catherine answered the phone.

"Hey Catherine. We're allowed to go in and see her now; Warrick and Greg are here, we all just went in to see her. I didn't know if you wanted to come. She's asleep, but…"

_"Sure, I'll be right over. Lindsey is asleep, but before bed she make a card for Sara. I'll bring it over."_

Grissom heard a click and the conversation was over. He turned back to Greg and Warrick.

"She's coming over now."

"Hey, you don't think we could stop and get something eat before we head home from here, do you? I haven't eaten anything in ages and I don't feel like going to eat by myself and my fridge is pretty much empty." Greg said.

Grissom nodded, "You guys can go ahead. I think I'm going to stay here for a while."

"Whatever floats your boat," Greg replied.

"I guess I'll go with you, bro," said Warrick and he and Greg said 'good-bye' to Grissom and walked out the door.

Grissom just sat there; waiting. He wanted to wait in the room, incase Sara woke up, but he decided to wait outside for Catherine; it wasn't likely that Sara would wake up anytime soon anyway.

"Hello," Catherine yawned, it was three o' clock in the morning and she had hardly slept at all the past few days. In fact, she was lucky she got to sleep for an hour and a half before she came here or else she probably would have fallen asleep in the car and gotten into an accident.

"Good evening," replied Grissom and soon found that he was yawning himself.

The next morning, Grissom and Catherine had spent the night sitting in the two chairs in the hallway near Sara's hospital room, but now they were sitting across from each other in the hospital cafeteria. They were finishing up when Grissom asked.

"Do you think she's awake yet?"

"Probably," Catherine replied, "She's gotten plenty of rest, the medicine's effects are probably wearing off. You could go see."

"What am I supposed to say to her?" Grissom asked.

"'Hi Sara, how are you doing? I've been really worried about you,' "Catherine said, "Or something like that?"

Grissom gave her a weird look that said, "I'm afraid." But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"Look, I'll go in and see if she's awake. If she is, I'll talk to her for you, but _you_ need to talk to her, too. Got it?"

"Yeah, thanks." Grissom was a bit relieved.

So Catherine went in to find that Sara was awake.

"Hey," Catherine greeted her.

"How is everyone?" Sara asked.

"Whoa, wait… the question is, how are you doing? Everyone is fine, though we were all really worried about you; Grissom especially."

"I'm doing okay. I just woke up a little while ago and I'm in some pain, but it's nothing I can't deal with. The medication is helping with the pain a bit."

"That's good. I'm glad you're okay. With everything that's going on, nothing feels normal anymore. The team split, and the addition of Sofia, and this… It's all so hectic. Grissom's been here since you got here. Actually, he rode in the ambulance with you, so Warrick told me. I don't know if you remember it at all..."

"No, not really. Wait, you mean he was here all night? Why?"

"Because he cares; trust me, I know he can be really unemotional, but he tells me everything and what he doesn't tell me, I figured it out. If anything would have happened to you, he would have died."

Sara really wasn't sure what to say…she seemed to be in denial.

"No, I think he's made it clear that he doesn't feel the way about me that I feel about him."

Catherine shook her head, "You two are both so afraid of the truth that you hide all of your emotions and acting like that will get you nowhere. I told him I'd come and talk to you and then he said he'd come and talk to you. I hope he doesn't screw up." She stood up, "I hope you feel better, Sara."

Catherine walked out into the hallway and told Grissom that she was awake and he could go talk to her.

"Good luck," she said, "Both of you need to get your damned heads out of the microscopes!" She exclaimed quietly.

So now it was Grissom's moment to fix some things. He walked in silently and went to have a seat in one of the chairs next to her bed, but found that it was already occupied by a book.

"Hi," Sara said, "What's that?"

His face went a bit red, but he suppressed it, "That book I gave you a few years ago, but I don't know how it got here. How are you, though?"

"I'm alright."

It was becoming a bit awkward.

"Catherine told me that you stayed here all night," Sara continued.

"Well, yes." He looked down to the floor, "I was worried."

"Thanks," she said and he smiled a small smile.

Grissom opened up that book and found a note in it, but it was not a note that he wrote; it was written by someone else.

Sara obviously saw and asked, "What does it say? Who's it from?"

Without thinking, he read the note allowed, "Sara, I found this in the break room and thought you must have misplaced it; I know it means a lot to you, being from Grissom and all." Sara felt her face getting red. "I know you've been having some hard times with stuff lately, I'm not sure what, but I can tell. If it has to do with Grissom, I hope things work out. Everyone in the lab knows that you two belong together. Hope you feel better. –Greg."

Grissom looked as if he were going to die and Sara's eyes were fleeing to the window on the other side of the room, looking for a way to escape the situation.

After a while, Grissom said, "I don't know what to say."

"What are we going to do?" Sara finally asked.

Grissom gave her a confused look.

"What are we going to do when I go back to work… whenever I do?" she was thinking about saying 'if I do,' but decided not to. She wasn't going to try and run away from her problems anymore.

When Grissom talked to other women, it was so much easier, so why was it so hard to talk to Sara?

"I think it's time that I take Catherine's advice and figure out what to do…" he stood up. "I've got to go do something."

"Oh, okay."

"I hope you feel better."

"Thanks," she said and she watched him go out the door.

Grissom went out into the hallway and talk to Catherine about what had just happened.

"I have an idea though," he said and they headed to the parking lot. It was then that he realized he had no car again, "Could you drop me off at the lab, please?"

"Sure, just promise me you won't do anything stupid…"

"I won't."

He went and picked up a few things and then got an idea. Quickly, he ran out and got in his car and sped off down the road.

A few hours later, he was back at the hospital and headed up to Sara's room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," Sara said and he opened the door.

"Hey, I… uh… got you something."

She gave him a look of slight confused and surprise.

He handed her a bag; it wasn't small, but it wasn't too large. It wasn't too light or too heavy, which really didn't help her figure out what it was before she opened it. Even so, she liked the idea of being surprised. She opened it up and took out a DVD. It was Phantom of the Opera. The next item that came from the bag was a necklace; it had a silver chain and a rose charm.

"You really didn't have to…" she was amazed.

She pulled out the last thing that was a card. It read, _Sara, I'm glad you're okay. I seriously don't know what I would have done if you weren't okay. A few years ago, you asked me to dinner and I decline. Well, everyday after that happened, I've regretted it. You said that by the time I figured out what to do that it would be too late. Is it too late to say 'I love you'? –Grissom_

Sara finished reading the card and smiled, "Dinner sounds great."

xxxxxxxxx

A/N...

The end.

Uh, wow, that was a really long chapter... tell me if you don't like the ending. I doubt I'll add more, but I might come back and edit the end. I'm not so sure I'm satisfied with it yet. Lol. Well, please review and thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. You guys are awesome!


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